In grammar, the locative case ( ; abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which indicates a location. In languages using it, the locative case may perform a function which in English would be expressed with such prepositions as "in", "on", "at", and "by". The locative case belongs to the general local cases, together with the lative and ablative case.
The locative case exists in many language groups.
Indo-European languages The Proto-Indo-European language had a locative case expressing "place where", an adverbial function. The endings are reconstructed as follows: Singular Plural Athematic , (no ending) Thematic ,
In most later Indo-European languages, the locative case merged into other cases (often genitive or dative) in form and/or function, but some daughter languages retained it as a distinct case. It is found in: modern Balto-Slavic languages, except Bulgarian and Macedonian, although it is mostly used with prepositions in the other Slavic languages some classical Indo-European languages, particularly Sanskrit and Old Latin (Mostly uncommon, archaic or literary) use in certain modern Indic languages (such as Bangla and Marathi—in which, however, a separate ablative case has disappeared)
Latin Old Latin still had a functioning locative singular, which descended from the Proto-Indo-European form. The locative plural was already identical to the dative and ablative plural. In Classical Latin, changes to the Old Latin diphthongs caused the originally-distinctive ending of the locative singular to become indistinguishable from the endings of some other cases.
Declension Old Latin Classical Latin Merger 1st Merged with dative/genitive. 2nd Merged with genitive. 3rd Originally like the dative, but gradually replaced with the ablative. 4th Gradually replaced with the ablative.5thMerged with ablative.
Because the locative was already identical to the ablative (which had a "location" meaning as well) in the plural, the loss of distinction between the endings eventually caused the functions of the locative case to be absorbed by the ablative case in Classical Latin. The original locative singular ending, descended from the Old Latin form, remained in use for a few words. For first and second declension, it was identical to the genitive singular form. In archaic times, the locative singular of third declension nouns was still interchangeable between ablative and dative forms, but in the Augustan Period the use of the ablative form became fixed. Therefore, both forms and may be encountered.
The locative ending of the fifth declension was (singular only), identical to the ablative singular, as in ('today').
The Latin locative case was only used for the names of cities, "small" islands and a few other isolated words. The Romans considered all Mediterranean islands to be small except for Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Crete, and Cyprus. Britannia was also considered to be a "large island". There are a few nouns that use the locative instead of a preposition: +NominativeLocativeMeaningIn the countrysideAt homeOn the groundIn military service/on the fieldIn warAt the hearthIn spirit/at heart/in mind.
and are particularly used in contrast to , "at home" to convey that someone is away on military service, and are used interchangeably.
The first declension locative is by far the most common, because so many Roman place names were first declension, such as , Rome, and therefore use the same form as the genitive and dative: , at Rome, and , in Ireland. A few place-names were inherently plural, even though they are a single city, e.g. , Athens and , Cuma. These plural names also use the form similar to the dative and ablative: , at Athens, and , at Cumae. There are also a number of second declension names that could have locatives, e.g. , Brindisi; , York; with locatives , at Brindisi; , at York. The locative cannot express being located at multiple locations; plural forms only exist because certain proper names such as happen to be plural. "He is at home" can be expressed by "" using the locative, but "They are at their (individual and separate) homes" cannot be expressed by the locative.
Greek In Ancient Greek, the locative merged with the Proto-Indo-European dative, so that the Greek dative represents the Proto-Indo-European dative, instrumental, and locative. The dative with the preposition "in" and the dative of time (e.g., , , which means "on the third day") are examples of locative datives. Some early texts, in particular Homer, retain the locative in some words (for example , – at dawn, Iliad 24.401).
Germanic languages The locative case had merged with the dative in early Germanic times and was no longer distinct in Proto-Germanic or in any of its descendants. The dative, however, contrasts with the accusative case, which is used to indicate motion toward a place (it has an allative meaning). The difference in meaning between dative and accusative exists in all of the old Germanic languages and survives in all Germanic languages that retain a distinction between the two cases.
Sanskrit The locative case in Sanskrit is usually known as the "seventh case" (). It is the last out of the main seven cases () in the language. Along with "in", "on", "at", "or", and "by", the locative case is also generally used with "among" in Sanskrit.
Slavic languages Among Slavic languages, the locative is mostly used after a fixed set of commonly used prepositions. Besides location, Slavic languages also employ locative as a way of expressing the method of doing an action, time when the action is to take place, as well as the topic or theme that something describes in more detail; as such it is subordinate to other cases. The locative is kept in all Slavic languages (except for Bulgarian and Macedonian), although Russian split it (in the singular of a group of masculine nouns and in a few 3rd-declension feminines such as дверь) into locative and prepositional, and Serbo-Croatian uses almost the same set of endings (sometimes with different intonation) as for the dative. The ending depends on whether the word is a noun or an adjective (among other factors).
Old Slavic In Old Church Slavonic, the locative is mostly used with a preposition. Some uses of independent locatives remain, mostly in expressions of time, such as "in winter", "at midnight". The locative also occurs as the complement of a handful of verbs, such as "who touched my garments?". In Old East Slavic, moreover, place names are regularly used in the locative without a preposition.
Czech The Czech language uses the locative case to denote location (, 'in the Czech Republic'), but as in the Russian language, the locative case may be used after certain prepositions with meanings other than location (, , , ). Cases other than the locative may be used to denote location in Czech as well (, -genitive, or , -instrumental).
The locative case (commonly called the 6th case) is the only one of the 7 Czech cases which cannot be used without a preposition. It is used with these prepositions: ( = , = ). Using this preposition with the accusative case has a different meaning ( = ) and is regarded as archaic ( = , = ). The use of this preposition with the accusative case has a different meaning ( = ). (in different meanings: past, after, on, to, for, by). This preposition takes the accusative case in some meanings. (by, nearby, with) (about, of, on, for, at, during, by, with, over, against, using). This preposition with the accusative case has a different use and meaning ().
If the preposition uses both accusative and locative case, the accusative is used for direction (where to) while locative for pure location (where). In case of the preposition (about), this distinction can be very subtle and untranslatable, or depending on the controlling verb.
The locative form of substantives in the singular is mostly identical with the dative case (3rd case). Possible endings for locative case: (hard masculines: , hard neuters: ) (soft masculines: , some neuters: , some feminines: ) (animate masculines: ) () () () ()
For adjectives and adjectival substantives: (-ým or -ym in Common Czech) for hard masculine and neuter adjectives () for soft masculine and neuter adjectives () ( or in Common Czech) for hard feminine adjectives () for soft feminine adjectives ()
The locative form in the plural typically has the ending (), the dual has ending ().
See Czech declension for declension patterns for all Czech grammatical cases, including the locative.
Slovak The Slovak language uses the locative case to denote location (, ), but as in the Russian language, the locative case may be used after certain prepositions with meanings other than location (, , , ). Cases other than the locative may be used to denote location in Slovak as well (, -genitive, or , -instrumental). A preposition must always be used with this case.
There are several different locative endings in Slovak: Used for singular nouns of all genders (except masculine animate), e.g. . Used for: Masculine inanimate singular nouns ending in a velar consonant, e.g. , or a glottal consonant, e.g. All neuter singular nouns ending in -kV, -chV, -iV, -uV (V being o or um), e.g. Used for: Masculine inanimate nouns ending in a soft consonant (c, č, ď, dz, dž, j, ľ, ň, š, ť, ž), e.g. ("remote") → ("about the remote"), Feminine nouns ending in a soft consonant or a soft consonant followed by a, e.g. , ("bone") → ("about bone") Feminine nouns ending in -ia or -ea, e.g. Neuter nouns ending in -e or -, e.g. used for neuter nouns ending in -, e.g. used for masculine animate nouns, e.g. used for masculine and neuter singular adjectives: used for feminine singular adjectives and feminine nouns ending in -á: used for masculine animate nouns following the kuli pattern (being most names in -i, -y etc.), e.g. used for masculine nouns in plural, e.g. used for plural feminine and neuter nouns, e.g. () → (). There are variations: used when the preceding vowel is long or a diphthong (ia, ie, iu, ô), e.g. used after soft consonants, e.g. Used for plural adjectives of all genders, e.g. () → (), with the variation: when the preceding vowel is long: () → ()
See also Slovak declension for declension patterns for all Slovak grammatical cases, including locative.
Polish There are several different locative endings in Polish: is used after hard consonant except for , , and in masculine and neuter nouns. In feminine nouns, it is used after all hard consonant, including , , and . The ending has a softening effect on the preceding consonant.
For a complete list, see Polish hard and soft consonants. is used for masculine and neuter nouns after a soft consonant, hardened consonant, , , and .
is used in feminine nouns after hardened consonants.
is used in feminine nouns after soft consonants.
Used for masculine and neuter singular adjectives, e.g. () → () Used for feminine singular adjectives, e.g. () → ()
In plural: Used for plural nouns of all genders, e.g. () → () Used for plural adjectives of all genders, e.g. () → ()
Russian In the Russian language, the locative case has largely lost its use as an independent case and become the prepositional case, which is used only after a preposition. The latter is not always used to indicate location, while other cases may also be used to specify location (e.g. the genitive case, as in , ("by the window")). Statements such as , ("in the library") or , ("in Alaska"), demonstrate the use of the prepositional case to indicate location. However, this case is also used after the preposition "о" ("about") as in , ("about the student").